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Show organizers received positive feedback from exhibitors describing the amount of business they were able to do this week, and how pleased they were with the number of buyers and quality of buyers.

Three days of packed exhibition halls and brisk sales came to a close Saturday with the conclusion of the 2013 PRI Trade Show at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

Tens of thousands of motorsports professionals from across the United States and 72 countries attended the 26th annual show to discover and shop the latest in racing technology on display from 1200 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment.

“It’s been the busiest PRI Trade Show ever,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “We are receiving positive comments from exhibitors as we walk through the aisles, describing the amount of business that they’ve been able to do this week and how pleased they are with the number of buyers and quality of buyers. The big return of the PRI Trade Show to Indianapolis was a pretty spectacular success for our attendees and exhibitors. We also learned some areas where we can tune up the show for 2014.”

An expanded Race Industry Week preceded this year’s PRI Trade Show, as seven major events were among 45 conferences and seminars that ran in conjunction with the show, beginning on Monday. The Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC), Advanced Vehicle Dynamics and Data Acquisition Seminar, the Race Track Business Conference, the International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS) Annual Congress, the Winning the eRace Digital Marketing Conference, and SEMA’s Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council (MPMC) Education Day were among the showcase activities during this year’s Race Industry Week.

The Grand Opening Breakfast, a PRI Show tradition, featured “The King” Richard Petty, while both Indiana Gov. Bill Pence and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard greeted the standing-room only crowd.

“There’s a real sense of partnership with the city, the state, the Indiana Convention Center, Visit Indy and the tourism industry,” Kilroy added.

Activity throughout the booths -- and the Convention Center in general -- continued well into day three of the Show.

“It’s Saturday and we’re still busy,” said Toby Hallet of Bell Racing Helmets. “The show has gone really, really well. We’ve been jam-packed every day.”

While this year’s event has just concluded, many are already looking ahead to PRI’s return in 2014.

“The show has been amazing, much better that what we anticipated,” said Matt Porter of Technical Equipment Sales. “This is our first time to the PRI Show, and we’ve had about five- or six-fold of what we expected. We’re already planning on doubling our booth space for next year.”

This year's Show also played host to a number of the sport’s biggest stars – NHRA Nitro champions John Force, Antron Brown, Shawn Langdon, Larry Dixon and Tony Pedregon, IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan, World of Outlaws star Steve Kinser, and NASCAR’s Matt Crafton and Kyle Larson were among those taking part in the event.

“The PRI Show is very important for Indianapolis – it’s the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and racing in general,” said Chip Ganassi Racing Team member Dixon. “Having all these vendors and manufacturers all under one roof is terrific. It’s really exciting to have so many people come together to celebrate racing. It’s a great sign for the industry to not only see all this innovation that makes us go faster, but witnessing all these companies making deals and growing their businesses in the process.”

For more on the 2013 Trade Show, visit PRI's online photo gallery. Preparation is already under way for the 2014 PRI Trade Show, which will take place Dec. 11-13 at the Indiana Convention Center.

Citing an increase in both sales and overall foot traffic, exhibitors note quality as well as quantity of buyers in attendance at the 2013 Show, which concludes its three-day run on December 14.

Day two is traditionally the biggest sales day of the three-day PRI Trade Show, and that continued in this year’s return to Indianapolis, where sales were robust at the Indiana Convention Center.

Attendees arrived early on Friday morning and came looking to buy.

“It’s been going really well,” said Brian Schnee of Eagle Motorsports, which builds dirt winged sprint cars, dirt midgets and micros. “We’ve seen a lot of folks we haven’t seen in years. There have been a lot of buyers, and I’ve sold probably a dozen cars here since yesterday. This has really been a good deal in coming to Indianapolis."

Numerous exhibitors were equally ecstatic with the day’s results.

“This is definitely the biggest PRI Show we’ve been involved with for a number of years,” offered Kevin Rumley of CV Everything Racing. “Traffic has been huge. It comes in waves. We’ve had 70 percent buyers today. It’s been a quality day.”

Similar refrains were heard throughout the exhibition hall, particularly on the Show’s Machinery Row.

“The show has done very well for us,” Carl Chastain of DynoJet Research. “We’re surprised that we’ve been this busy. We’ve had a lot of foot traffic. We’re featuring our chassis dynamometers. We’ve been able to sell a number of pieces of equipment, and we’ve already paid for the show before noon on Friday. We’ve found buyers. Florida was nice, but we’ve got a lot of people who are looking to build race cars here in Indy.”

Brisk sales meant consumers were just as happy with the technology and product they found on the Show floor.

“The show is a tad overwhelming—it’s really big,” shared Dirt Late Model racer Brady Smith, from Wisconsin. “It’s really great to have everyone in one spot and be able to take care of business. We’re working on things we need to buy, as well as checking out the latest and greatest newest products.

The opening two days have exceeded the high expectations for this year’s Show.

“It was a really good day for the PRI Trade Show and the racing industry as a whole,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “We've got an extraordinary array of exhibitors that hasn't been experienced all in one place, all at one time in years, and the serious buyers have turned out because of it. There’s business being conducted throughout the Convention Center.

The 26th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest products and technology from over 1200 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. The show is expected to bring well over 45,000 racing professionals from across the US and 72 countries to the Racing Capital of the World. For more on the 2013 Trade Show, visit PRI's online photo gallery.

The event is widely viewed as the three biggest business days in racing

and that label proved true at the Indiana Convention Center on December 12

Tens of thousands of motorsports professionals joined exhibitors for one of the most successful opening days in the 26-year history of the annual PRI Trade Show, which returned to Indianapolis in 2013.

The event is widely viewed as the three biggest business days in racing, and that label proved true once again at the Indiana Convention Center on Thursday.

“We had a great opening day,” said John Kilroy, PRI Trade Show producer. “The PRI Grand Opening Breakfast was very well attended, and then the exhibition hall was packed with attendees. Most importantly, people were buying, and that’s why we’re here—for racing companies to do business.”As the doors opened, buyers flooded the Trade Show floor to find the latest technology and newest products, many of which were introduced for the first time.

“The show’s been great,” said Ford Racing’s Jesse Kershaw. “We had the opportunity to bring the 2015 Mustang here that was just unveiled globally a week ago. It’s a great chance to show the new body to the racers. The traffic has been awesome. Our booth was packed this morning. Being in Indy is really good for us.”

A similar refrain was heard throughout the show floor.

“It’s been phenomenal—this has been the biggest upsurge we’ve seen in a trade show in a number of years,” noted Jeff Anderson of Moser Engineering, which manufactures aftermarket performance rear end components for various racing applications. “It’s a very pleasant surprise. Coming to Indianapolis has been golden for us.”

The overflow crowd was especially evident on the high-end Machinery Row.

“The show is going very well for us,” offered Eddie Williams of MSC Industrial Supply, which saw its metalworking machines in great demand. “We’re getting a lot of traffic, some unexpected traffic. We’ve done a number of orders. People are buying and the Internet access has been great in doing business. We’ve had a lot of engine builders.”

As pleased as the exhibitors on the floor were, the Indianapolis community was just as happy to see the PRI Trade Show’s return; its last year in Indy was 2004.

“The entire Indianapolis community is just thrilled to have the PRI Show back,” proclaimed Leonard Hoops, president and CEO of Visit Indy. “PRI belongs in Indy. We’re almost joined at the hip. This is the capital of racing. The coming together of PRI and IMIS, and SEMA bringing them to Indy, it’s an incredible benefit for everyone involved—for the hardcore racing community, for the attendees here and for the community of Indianapolis.”

The 26th Annual PRI Trade Show features the latest products and technology from over 1200 manufacturers of racing and high-performance automotive components, as well as precision machining equipment. The show is expected to bring well over 40,000 racing professionals from across the US and 72 countries to the Circle City. For more information, visit www.pri2013.com.